Elevator door and the like



Sept.a 16 1924.

W. B. GERVAIS ELEVATOR DOOR AND THE LIKE Filed June 17, 192?.

v fmwznaf WaanwxW 15.6 6/f2/M Patented Sept. 16, 1924.

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WAINWRIGHT B. GERVAIS, or

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ELEVATOR noon AND THE LIKE.

Application filed June '17, 19.22. 'Serial No. 56$;049.

To all whom it may concern:

Be i kn n t at I, A W GH :B- GE "AIS, ,a citizen of the United -States, residi at Chicago, in the county of gGook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain ;new and useful Improvement vin Elevator Doors and the ike, of w i h th to eing s f l l r, oh ie n e a deeer p i n, rei nce being ha t th accompa ying lra-W- h1g r ing a .1 a f hi spec fi a io My ve t on elatee-t =el v t leoan the like.

jFire shutters are commonly employed for lo ing th d er open ng .Q pa s g ays leading to th e a o shafts f a i us buildings, particularly buildings employed for industrial purposes. In .fact, modern fire regulations require the installation of ch do s- Thee do rs are e m n y divided horizontally at the center of the pening and f heha of th d er is g id vertically upward, \while the other half is guided vertieally downward, the two being e neet l t g e and ou terb la cing each other. The space between door ,openings of adjacent floors vof (the {buildingis sua y le s a t heigh l i h s tion of the door and in order that proper opening of the doors be permitted the practice has arisen of making one half .orsection ua y h wer e et o ffifie ely e J'eeent h W l d-sp ei sth e he h usually the upper sectionTaway in-an additional guide which is staggered for the purpose of permitting overlapping of the dja t sec i s Q adj ce t dee span openingthe same.

T mat e of le ng th 1 1N4 9 betwee he M11 an the 1 pa t of he dee ections spaced therefrom to prevent fire, spa s, gee sie-nd the li e r m strik ng th h ep i ge in an he he .elev ter haf ae'lp e hfied a di lt, p actice-1 prb l i Va s a rang me ts in udin th .eher h e f fe st ps ree; he l we dee feectiea-e he $5 .0 ve er movesen 'z ih' he i ion 12 .elqe th space th t e sweepe by th clos ng 9 th uppe door have been provided. I; h e se are con reheated nd e PeneiYe and their a ti n vis dependen a hell'y 1PQ m vemen :Q th 1 ee ne- Eu the mme, th y nes be j e r m'lbn .p it en to an the -upon eve y eneratie jef hee Ah ehi iet i the; .pr

vision of a device normally positioned .to permit proper overlapping of the adjacent sections {and operated upon the occurrence of a :file or excessivetemperature toaclose the .space between the wall and the .top part of ,the door section spaced theretrom .to prevent the passage ofzfire, sparks, gases and theElike therethrough. I

'1 .further object is the provision of an improved compact and affective device of simple and inexpensive construction.

Further objects and advantages and the noyel arrangement and structural features of my invention will appear from the following detailed description and the claims taken with an inspection of the accompanying drawings inwhich;

Figure .1 isa fragmentary. elevational View of the floor .side of a door embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section taken substantially on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

I Fig. '3 is a fragmentary elilarged h'or'izontal section athru one of the guides or ways showing the upper section of one-door and the lower section of thefdoor above in section. V

Fig. 4 iS a diagrammatic vertical section thru an elevator shaft showing the doors at the various door openings or passageways equipped with an embodiment of myinvention. i

Referring :to the drawings, Idesignates. the elevator shaaftof .abuilding,2 lthedoor openings or passageways leading thru' the wall 3 fronuthe various floors and J4 i-designates {generally the doors provided atthe several door openings .or'pas'sageway-s 2. 1

so I

Each of 1the doors .or shutters is divided horizontally at the center :Ofltllt) opening 2 intoan upper half .orsecftion 5 and a lov've-r half or section ,6, awhich. sections are preferably connected .together and" counterbalance one another in the usual or any preferred manner. These upper and lower door sec- .tions .are arranged in dilferent \vertical planes to permit overlapping with the adiacentlsections of the doors'above andbelow as shown Tin Eig. I. In the particular embodi- Inent shown-the xlowensection cits fit snugly adjacent the wall ;3 land th'e upper ha-lfj-jo'r section isstaggered or spaced away e r rm a-pocketl? dimensionedto:receive the lowver section 610i the door abpve L'upon upward tenement of theleeet eu' s n. open ng downward movement of the section 6 of the door above in opening. This construction makes it possible to use such doors in buildings where the floor heights. are relatively small as compared with the height of the door openings and where the space between the door openings of the respective floors is less than the height of the door sect-ions.

The elevator side of the wall 3 is usually faced along the opposite sides of the door opening 2 as shown at 8 and a vertical Z- bar 9 is secured along each of these facing members one at each side of the door opening by means of bolts 10 or otherwise as desired. The base flanges of these Z-bars provide for mounting the same in place while the outer flanges 11 with the connecting portions 12 define the guides or ways in which the door sections 5 and 6 are mounted for vertical movement.

Each of the door sections 5 and 6 com prises an angle iron frame 13 supporting a suitable sheathing 14 which is preferably corrugated and riveted, bolted or otherwise secured to the frame. Angle irons or bars 15 secured along the opposite sides of the frame 13 of each of the door sections provide flanges 16 which project laterally from the opposite sides of the respective door sections. The flange 16 projecting from the door 5 engages between the flange 17 of a U-shaped bar 18 and the flange 11 of the 2- bar 9. The U-shaped bar 18 is secured to the inner face of the connecting portion of the bar 9 between the flange 11 thereof and the wall 8. The flange 16 projecting from the door 6 engages between the flange 20 of the U-shaped bar 18 and the facing plate 8. The respective laterally projecting mounting and guides flanges 16 may be provided with suitable guide rollers 21 if so desired.

Arranged transversely across the top of the floor side of the upper door portion or section 5 and hingedly connected thereto by suitable hinges 25 is a. plate or shutter 26. One of the leaves of each of the hinges 25 is secured to the plate or shutter 26 and the other leaf to the door section 5. Plates 27' secured to the door section 5 at the points of attachment of the hinges 25 facilitate the attachment of the hinges thereto. The plate or shutter 26 is normally held up flat against the top portion of the upper door section 5 by a suitable fusible link 27, one end of which is secured to the upper frame member of the door section while the other end is secured in a recess 28 formed in the upper edge of the plate or shutter 26 intermediate the opposite ends thereof. Upon the occurrence of a fire or a predetermined rise in temperature, the hinged shutter or plate 26 is released by melting of the fusible link 27 and when the door is closed drops into engagement with the wall 3 as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, closing conmiunica tion from the elevator shaft to the floor and vice versa and effectively preventing the passage of fire, sparks, gases and the like there between.

The normal position of the shutter 26 vertically against the door section 5 removes it from any possible interference with the proper positioning of the lower sect-ion of the door above in the pocket 7 upon upward movement of the section 5 or downward movement of the section 6 of the door above. There is no opening and closing of the shut ter with every operation of the door, yet it is always ready to quickly operate to close off the space between the wall and the door section spaced therefrom. The opposite upper corners of the plate or shutter 26 are preferably offset toward the door as shown at 30 to secure the desired snug engagement of the upper edge of the shutter with the wall when it drops into co-operation therewith. Should the lower section of the door above be positioned in the pocket 7 when the link 27 melts, the shutter will drop into engagement with the door section positioned in the pocket.

Modifications and changes are contemplated within the scope of the invention which is pointed out in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a wall having an opening therethrough, a door including a vertically movable portion spaced from said wall to form a pocket for the reception of a second vertically movable door portion, means carried by said first door portion for closing the space between said portion and the wall and means fusible at a predetermined temperature for retaining said closing means in open position.

2. In combination, a wall having an opening therethrough, a door section mounted adjacent the wall, a second door section spaced from the wall to form a pocket for the reception of said first door section, means carried by said second spaced away section for closing the space between the wall and said section and means for holding said. last means open to permit overlapping of the section therepast.

8. In combination, a wall having an opening therethrough, a door section mounted adjacent the wall, a second door section spaced from the wall to form a pocket for the reception of said first door section, means for closing the space between the wall and said second section, and means fusible at a predetermined temperature for retaining said closing means in open position.

4. A counterbalanced fire door comprising upper and lower sections arranged in different planes and movable vertically in opposite directions in opening and closing, the upper section being spaced away from the door opening and means actuated independently of the. movement of said door sections for closing the space between said upper section and the wall, said closing means normally permitting overlapping ofi the sections therepast.

5. In combination a wall having an opening therethrough, a door section mounted adjacent the wall, a second door section spaced from the wall to form a pocket for the reception of said first door section, a shutter hingedly attached to said second spaced away section and normally lying flat against the same so as not to interfere with the positioning of said first section in the pocket formed therefor by the spacing of said second section from the wall said shuttter being adapted to close the space between said second spaced away section and the wall to prevent communication therethrough. I

6. In a door of the class described, a pair of door sections arranged in different planes and movable vertically in opposite directions in opening and closing, the upper section being spaced away from the wall to provide a pocket for the reception of the lower section of the door above, a shutter hingedly attached to said upper spaced away section and adapted for closing the space between said section and the wall to prevent communication therethrough, and

means fusible at a predeterminedtemperature for normally holding said shutter sub stantially flat against the upper door sec- ,tion so that the positioning of the lower section of the door in the pocket formed therefor will not be interfered with.

7 A counterbalanced fire door comprising upper and lower sections arranged in difi'erent planes and movable vertically in opposite directions in opening and closing, I

the upper door section being spaced away from the door opening, a shutter arranged along the upper edge of said upper door section and hingedly attached thereto, said shutter having its opposite upper edgesoifl WAINWRIGHT B. GERVAIS. 

